I was put on a pip and had to write an essay on how I failed and how I’ll fix it.

so I wrote an essay on how they failed me as managers and how leaving was going to fix my problems.

I gave them one week.

I normally just send an email thats very short saying im resigning effective this date then give 2 - 4 weeks notice.

Yes. I had a boss cry during the two weeks trying to convince me to stay.

I’ve never given two weeks usually I just walk out on the job when I’ve had enough

I worked at a place whose policy was that you had to give four weeks notice to get your vacation paid out.

I remember getting the call from the place I was going to where they gave me the offer. I said yes and they asked when I would start. They said “well, you probably have to give like two weeks notice so that would put us at such-and-such date” and I had to tell them that no, I had to give four weeks notice. I remember them being surprised that that was a thing.

At the place I was leaving, I also had a real asshole boss. He decided randomly that we were slacking off or some shit and started demanding 7:00am demoes every day. (I wrote software there.) When I’d secured a position elsewhere, I pulled the boss aside and gave him my 4-week notice. I was the tech lead and lead architect and basically in-charge-guy on the team of only 4 people for “Big Project™”. The boss had arbitrarily made up a due date for “Big Project™” and promised that timeline to the managers over him over my team’s objections. By the time I quit, the arbitrary deadline had already passed and he was getting pressured. With me gone, it was doomed to slip much later still.

The asshole boss asked me why and I ended up telling him – politely – exactly all the problems I had with him. That and leaving him in the lurch of his own making were kinda cathartic, honestly.

The asshole boss got fired on a “do not pass go, do not clear out your desk, security will escort you out” basis after I left. As if I wasn’t already overdosing on schadenfreude. What exactly he did to get fired is the subject of rumor only. I heard someone say he called the CTO incompetent and promised to replace him in a meeting with lots of people. Another rumor involved a possible affair with someone else high up in the IT department.

Whatever the case, I think it was more awkward for asshole boss than for me. But he deserved it.

I pretty much have always given at least two weeks notice, the one exception was during training at a warehouse job and I think I was going to get fired shortly if I didn’t quit since it was clearly not working. Sometimes you have to give notice in bad situations.

In retrospect I’m glad I took that job anyway though, it got me out of a job I hated and I quickly found a workplace that respected me. I did worry a lot at the time though, I didn’t have much savings. Also, a few days after I became unemployed Hurricane Harvey hit us in Houston, which could have turned out pretty badly for me if I lost my apartment or my car, but it had no serious impact on my livelihood. Giving no notice definitely feels better when you have options and the ability to burn bridges.

“hey boss, in two weeks you’re gonna notice I ain’t been here in about two weeks”

I let them know in person then make my letter as you do

I haven’t. I’ve only either been fired or quit on the spot after too much BS.

I always just email.

“Due to the continued denial for training and commensurate pay increases which were part of the employment agreement, I have chosen to explore other options. I am providing 4 weeks notice to allow time for a replacement to be found.”

Before the day was done my mamager walked me out of the building with the agreement they would pay me for the 4 weeks but I did not have to come back to the office.

I used to work as a cheapo part-time-on-paper software developer to pay for university. All devs in the company were student workers and the quality of the work reflected that. That clown show of a job actually took so much of my energy and attention that it delayed my thesis by two years. Yikes.

My boss was straight up delusional. Among his many bizarre ideas was the assumption that I’d stay on for about nine months after my graduation, obviously for the absurdly low pay I was making as a student. That arrangement would’ve worked out very well for him so he assumed I’d be all for it.

Unfortunately for him, I was already working out the terms of my employment with another company. On the other side of the country. Who actually employed real full-time devs for real market-rate pay. There was no chance I’d stay on for longer than necessary.

So I hand-delivered my written resignation, effective in two months – that being the legal minimum notice period based on my employment duration at the time. Boy, was he upset. He thought we had an agreement (that I never agreed to) and that I’d take as much time as needed to finish up that major project we’d recently started (because clearly that’s a reason to work for pennies).

Hell no. I did tell him I’d reconsider… if he beat the other company’s offer. That would’ve meant a 200% pay rise. Suddenly he was much more amenable to my leaving.

I think it’s remarkable that you and several other folks actually give notice. Now-a-days, I think that’s somewhat unusual.

A lot of people just bounce. Sometimes they don’t even bother telling anyone, they just don’t show up and stop picking up the phone. I hear about this happening regularly at my husband’s workplace (which to be fair is retail).

I told my last boss when I began reaching final round interviews so that he could plan accordingly. A lot of people thought that was risky and that I should’ve just quietly lined up my next job and told him I was leaving once I’d accepted, but I liked him and liked the work (it was lab research. I wasn’t a big-time scientist, but I’d been managing the lab for a while and actually gave a shit about what we did).

Regarding your situation, I think you did what you could and showed a lot more integrity than is common. Could you have stayed until your boss was back from vacation and then given a proper notice? If so, well… then maybe you should’ve. If not… then it’s unfortunate, but there wasn’t much I think you could’ve done.

I just wrote up a small letter saying that I will be leaving and my last day of work will be X day.

If they as questions I do answer them but don’t go into detail.